Magi Nation Magi Battles
by DarkLich of RPGs
Summary: Magi Nation: What happens when a couple of Magi Nation fans enter IRC and create Magi Battles? An adventure through the Moonlands, of course! (Note: This does NOT use any Magi Nation characters)


Magi Nation- The Magi Battles- Revived  
  
Author's Note: (AN) This is a story pertaining to the game Magi Nation. This has NOTHING to do with the game, rather, it has to do with the Dream Creatures (DCs) and how Magi dual with them. The GameFAQs.com message board for Magi Nation created these battles on mIRC, all in text, and this is a summary of what happened in the first season of battling, told from the view of the Magi, TrueLich. Also, notice that the title contains "revived." This is because the Magi Battles that I speak of are a resurrection of an earlier set of Magi Battles, and not the first of their kind. Also, due to the fact that all data is stored on the user's computer, it is possible to cheat, but when a cheater was caught, he was banned from the magi battles, as seen by one of the characters. Anyway, for more information on the world of Magi Nation, head to www.magi-nation.com Also, for images of the DCs used in this story, check the card lists of www.magi-nation.com  
  
Common Terminology:  
  
Summon- To summon the Dream Creature.  
  
Energy- The life force of the Magi, when it runs out, they are unable to continue fighting. Energy is expended when spells are cast and when Dream Creatures are summoned.  
  
Dream Creature- The monsters of Magi Nation. (Better explanation in the games) (The shortened version is DC)  
  
Magi- The summoners of Dream Creatures. They duel with their dream creatures instead of directly fighting, therefore not killing each other.  
  
Regions- There are different areas of Magi Nation. The DCs that live in each one are different, because of the different terrain. The regions are: Naroom- Forest Underneath- Caves Cald- Volcano Orothe- Ocean Arderial- Sky Core- Night/Evil (Most Core Magi are evil, and most Core DC are corrupted. But not all.) Weave- Grasslands Kybar's Teeth- Mountains Sands of D'Resh- Desert Bograth- Swamp Paradwyn- Jungle Nar- Tundra Universal- Day/All (The universal DC are made up of power from all other regions.)  
  
Animite: Crystals that lie within the body of a DC. There are two types. The basic type is the currency of Magi Nation, and the infused type has the essence of the DC within it.  
  
Ring smith: DCs are summoned through rings made up of their infused animite. The ring smith has to forge these rings from the infused animite.  
  
Tournament (Tourney)- Same thing as a tournament in the real world, this is when Magi compete to see who is the best.  
  
Termination- A cause for the DC affected by it to return to the dream realm, having been completely drained of energy.  
  
The characters:  
  
NemeAlamoda (SSj472/Dan)- The Grandmaster of the Magi Battles, he appoints other Magi to their positions. He is very powerful, and cannot be removed from his position as Grand Master. He seldom is around, due to his extreme duties. He was also a member of the original Magi Battles.  
  
ChaosDemon- The Champion of the Magi Battles, he is second only to the Grand Master. He can be removed from his position though, but he drops by from time to time to inspect how the Magi are doing. He was also a member of the original Magi Battles.  
  
Coolb- The leader of the Underneath region of the Magi Battles, he was the first ring smith of the Magi Battles, and forged rings for all of the other magi. He was one of the earliest members, and trained hard with his various DCs. He is allied with his friend, ShadowFlame, but is friends with the other Magi. He was also a member of the original Magi Battles.  
  
ShadowFlame- A strong Magi and friend of Coolb, he had to give up being a Magi due to the fact that he was unable to keep his mind on it, due to other things interfering.  
  
TrueLich- Yours Truly, he is a Wizard Magi who is friends with most of the other Magi. He has no alliances though, and sometimes seems to not be himself. He refuses to be a region leader, but takes upon a lot of duty anyway. He was made a ring smith after Coolb started needing help with the task, and he is the official referee of tourneys. He created many spells, items, and gave moves to tournament DCs. (DCs that are used are all in the game, so he made moves for DCs that are only cards) A formidable magi to say the least.  
  
WindDragon (WD)- The leader of the Arderial Region of the Magi Battles. A powerful dragon with a human form, he is an ally of Coolb, zycres14, and Majin. A fighter of justice, he stands by his friends in any conflict, no matter how questionable the reasons.  
  
Zycres14- The leader of the Paradwyn Region of the Magi Battles, he is a powerful upcoming magi. Not one to back down, he is known to get into fights beyond his control. He and his brother, Majin are never around at the same time, but they both have fought with the finest and won. Zy, as he is known, is a bit scrappy, but trusting to his friends to the end.  
  
Majin- The older brother of Zy, he also is a loyal friend. He will fight when he has to, and is known to be a supportive friend and ally. He also fights for righteousness, and will fight even with the odds against him.  
  
Glowing Hyren- A mysteriously powerful Magi, he fights to win, with no sense of honor.  
  
Brink Hyren- The leader of the Orothe Region, he is a slightly newer Magi than the others. It doesn't stop him though, from trying to be one of the strongest. He is the only known Magi to be able to continuously activate the secret ability of the spell, Universal Tech.  
  
Kyros- Not Great Magus Kyros, but a Magi with the same name. He fights for the underdog, and therefore uses one of the weakest DCs in the world of Magi Nation. He is seldom around, but an aura of power is felt when he is. He also happens to be the Naroom Region leader.  
  
Cow- A bovine Magi, he is the apprentice of his Master, Kyros. He fights for Kyros, in Kyros' name, but will fight for himself if the need arises.  
  
For all that is good, there must be evil, here are the Villains:  
  
Cyber-X: An infamous Magi throughout the Magi Battles, he is known as the only Magi that has ever defeated NemeAlamoda. Not much is known about him, other than that he has superior power.  
  
Darkness Eliminator- The arch-nemesis of NemeAlamoda, he was defeated by NemeAlamoda. Trained by Cyber-X, he has recently come back to aid his mentor in the final defeat of Neme.  
  
Menardi- (yes, I KNOW the name is from Golden Sun. Kill Dan about it, not me) A mysterious Magi that defeated Neme in one shot, she supposedly is the trainer of Cyber-X. She may even be omniscient.  
  
Wicked_Tofu- A strong Magi that would like nothing more than to see Neme defeated. Perhaps Menardi trained him.  
With that out of the way, on to the story of the Magi Battles, Narrated by Yours truly, the TrueLich! (But not from my perspective)  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------  
  
Chapter 1: The Lessons of TrueLich  
  
It was a new day for TrueLich, as he greeted his fellow Magi, Coolb and ShadowFlame. It was another day to train, another day to be ready for the Tournament. Having only recently started being a Magi, TL wasn't all that good at training. Fighting various DCs, he had trouble even defeating the weakest ones.  
  
"Lich, you gotta be able to judge how much energy the DC has left. Make sure that it's gonna go down before you go all out." Coolb was explaining the best way to survive against strong DCs.  
  
"Anyway, Coolb, let's find a DC to train against. I need some animite for a new ring." ShadowFlame was Coolb's best friend, which made it easy to get rings of DCs. They traveled together all the time, training and helping each other out.  
  
As a group, they traveled together until they spotted an outburst of dream energy. ShadowFlame stepped into it to initiate combat, and he summoned his Furok. (A Furok is a strong Naroom DC that looks like a bear with antlers. It is very powerful, but a kind DC despite it's power.)  
  
"It's an Eebit. ShadowFlame, you shouldn't have trouble with this one." (An Eebit is a rabbit DC; it's small and likes to come in groups.) Coolb was telling ShadowFlame watching ShadowFlame carefully. ShadowFlame initiated combat with the Eebit by focusing, regaining some of his energy. His Furok attacked the Eebit by mauling it, causing it to be undreamed. It left behind some animite and 2 infused Eebit animite.  
  
"Not bad for today. It's kind of late though, so I'm heading back to Naroom." ShadowFlame was satisfied, and Coolb went with him.  
  
"You coming, Lich?" Coolb didn't want to leave TrueLich behind.  
  
"No thanks, I'll stay out here and train a little."  
  
"Ok, but be careful." ShadowFlame and Coolb starting walking towards Vash Naroom, a large town in the Naroom region. TrueLich, left alone, looked for dream energy, where he was sure that he could fight and strengthen himself and his wyvern-like DC, Agovo.  
  
He ran towards a large outburst of dream energy, initiating a battle with a vine-knight-like DC, a Vinoc. His Agovo attacked it repeatedly, while TrueLich kept casting the spell Grow on the Agovo. The Agovo regained some of it's lost energy every time grow was casted on it, and it managed to defeat the Vinoc without too much trouble.  
  
"That's some more animite for me, and another Vinoc infused one. Looks like a good day today-What is that?" A large dragon-like DC was flying in the air above TrueLich. It had leaves for all of its body, but seemed to radiate with an unknown energy. Without a warning, it attacked TrueLich, knocking him into a tree.  
  
"What the Core is that thing?" TrueLich had been too weakened by the attack to be able to summon his Agovo. The mysterious DC was getting ready to attack again, but before it could, Coolb and ShadowFlame rushed in.  
  
"Lich, you ok?" ShadowFlame was checking Lich's injuries. They were nothing serious, but Lich had been too drained of energy to do much else than just walk. Coolb pulled out an odd collar, and fitted it on his Cave Rudwot. (A lizard like DC made completely of soil.)  
  
"This Hyren Tamer ought to give me a fighting chance." Coolb identified the object. "Lich, that DC is a Hyren. Hyrens are stronger, tougher DCs that are very rare. They usually have a strong affinity with the region that they are in, which is why this one is made of leaves. This is a Leaf Hyren. My Hyren tamer will strengthen my Cave Rudwot to a level in which it has the exact same strength as the Hyren. I hope that it'll be enough." Coolb set his jaw, grimly determined to defeat this powerful foe. The two DCs battled, attacking each other, and Coolb was constantly Growing his Cave Rudwot. Finally, the Cave Rudwot attacked the Leaf Hyren, and it vanished, leaving behind nothing.  
  
"Nothing? Stupid Hyren.Anyway, Lich, you're ok, and that's the important thing. Let's get back to Vash Naroom." Coolb led the way, while ShadowFlame helped TrueLich all the way back.  
  
Weeks past, and as the three friends traveled, they often ran into the enigmatic hulking demonic form of ChaosDemon. He would greet them, check how they were doing, and give them advice. On very rare occasions, they'd meet the Grand Master himself, NemeAlamoda. He would always be too busy to say anything, but would acknowledge their current strength. One day, though, Neme had something to say.  
  
"Coolb, ShadowFlame, TrueLich?" The three nodded. "Ok, head back to the Magi Training Academy and Arena. We've got some new graduates. They're going to learn how to battle from YOU three, so any mistake you make will be reflected in their abilities. Go now." Neme left quickly. As the three walked towards the Academy and Arena, ChaosDemon greeted them. "Lich, Cool, Flame, you heard the news?" The three shook their heads, wondering why Chaos was looking slightly worried. "Cyber-X is back." Chaos then left before the three could respond.  
  
"What? THE Cyber-X is back?" ShadowFlame was worried. "With our training, do you think we can beat him, Cool?" So was TrueLich. Cool got rid of their worries by replying "Don't worry. If he can be beaten, someone will do it. If we get defeated, Neme and Chaos are still quite formidable." Worries aside, they headed back to the Academy.  
  
Chapter 2: The New Magi  
  
Coolb, TrueLich, and ShadowFlame went to greet the new Magi. There, they saw two new magi, a huge teal Dragon, and a young Magi with glowing eyes. The dragon glanced at them before changing its body into that of a Magi.  
  
"Hi, I'm WindDragon. I'm pretty sure I know who you are. The Magi that is hidden and radiates a fiery energy is ShadowFlame, the Magi with shades and a powerful calming aura is Coolb, and the cloaked Magi is TrueLich." TrueLich nodded, while Coolb and ShadowFlame smiled. "Looks like we've got a Magi that knows who his teachers will be."  
  
The other Magi however, with glowing eyes, was immediately sucking up to them. "Oh hi! I'm Glowing Hyren. You know, I really like your Cave Rudwot, Coolb! And Lich, mind if I call you Lich, your Agovo is so cool!" The three Magi looked at each other worriedly, and nodded while backing away. After about 5 minutes of this non-stop talking, ShadowFlame decided to continue. "Well, we don't have all day, so let's begin." As they were about to leave, they heard shouts. "WAIT FOR US! WAIT FOR US!" They looked around and saw one Magi. He stopped in front of them, panting "Hi! I'm Zycres14. Am I too late to join the group?" Coolb smiled at this. "No Zy, you've made it on time, but where is the other person?" Zy looked around. "He should be back there. My brother, Majin is supposed to be here." TrueLich looked from where Zy came from. "There's no one there. I guess Majin will catch up with us as we go." ShadowFlame looked at Zycres. He was a standard Magi, (Magi is a non-specific term, making descriptions easy) a little on the short side though. As the group started to leave, Chaos flew in. (Yes, Demons have wings. Don't argue.) "I see the new Magi are here. Mind introducing them?" ShadowFlame pointed to each one as he said their name. "The dragon/magi hybrid is WindDragon, the glowing eyed one is Glowing Hyren, and the short Magi is Zycres. We're missing one though. Zycres' brother Majin is supposed to be here." At this point Zycres realized that he had forgotten something, and quickly ran off. About 20 seconds later, Zycres returned, except that it wasn't Zycres. This new Magi looked taller, older, more knowledgeable of the ways of life. He sauntered up to them. "Hey, I'm Majin. Sorry that I'm late. It's just that Zy and I can never be at the same place at the same time. We'll take turns with the lessons, and tell each other what the other misses." Chaos looked at him with a strange look on his face. "So that's the reason why you weren't here. Well, nice to meet you, Majin. Maybe I'll meet you Magi again during your travels." Before he could leave, Coolb stepped forwards.  
  
"Chaos, before you go, I want to duel you." Chaos stopped his actions and started laughing. "For my title of Champion?" Coolb shook his head quickly. "No, just as a training session. It would help in teaching the new Magi." Chaos smiled. This was going to be a better day than he thought. "Alright then, a one DC on one DC duel. Choose your DC. I'll give myself a handicap of not taking any actions." Coolb was ready. "I choose my Mushroom Hyren! (An underneath Hyren, it is made completely of mushrooms.) What will I face, Chaos?" Chaos observed the Mush Hyren. It was strong, well trained, but lacked the experience of Chaos' DCs. "My Chaos Jile should do the job." Coolb watched as a large, twisted, once-lion-like beast appeared. It was living proof of the Core's corruption on a DC. It was an incredibly strong DC though. "Ok! Mush Hyren, CRUSH that Jile!" Coolb hoped for a termination of the hard to defeat monster. If the crush managed to damage it enough to reopen the dream portal, Coolb would win. "Chaos Jile, CONSUME that Mush Hyren!" The Mush Hyren leapt into the air, and attempt to flatten the Jile on its landing with its mushroom hand, but the Jile just took it as a hit. In response, the Chaos Jile opened its large mouth and attempted to suck the Hyren into it's mouth and swallow the Mush Hyren, but it only managed to bite the large Mushroom Hyren. The fight continued, with Chaos issuing the command for the Chaos Jile to CONSUME the Mush Hyren continuously. Coolb was continually Growing his Mush Hyren, but it didn't seem as strong as the Chaos Jile. Finally, the Chaos Jile took a large bite into the Mush Hyren, and caused it to dispel all of its energy, forcing it back to the dream realm.  
  
"I win. Nice duel though, Coolb. You have trained your Mush Hyren well. Continue, and you might even be able to defeat me." ChaosDemon began walking off, but before he had walked 15 paces he hard the new Magi call out to him. "WHOA! You are THE ChaosDemon? The reigning Champion of the Magi Arena? The Magi second in command to Neme?" Glowing Hyren was obviously going to suck up for all he was worth. "You are the best Magi I've ever seen! Can you show me some of those tricks? That was awesome!" "So you are ChaosDemon. I've heard much about you, but seeing you in action was pretty cool. I guess we'll see you around, Chaos." Majin obviously had a different reaction, having met the Champion of the Magi Arena. "Chaos. Nice to meet you and see you duel. You actually ventured into the Core to get that Chaos Jile?" WindDragon wanted to know as much as he could. "Yeah, that I did. It wasn't that hard, as Chaos Jile aren't THAT rare. And because you new Magi are so amazed, I'll show you my personal spell. DEMON STORM!" A huge eruption of demonic energy surged through the area, coming from a dark cloud. It threw dark bolts of pure energy at the ground, damaging it heavily. It seemed to take a lot out of Chaos, but for it's price it seemed worthwhile. "The only way you will ever be taught that spell is if you can defeat me in combat. See ya round then." Chaos then took a couple of steps forward, and flew off.  
  
"Well, we better be off then. No use in wasting day light while we still have it." ShadowFlame was ready to go. "Yeah, where should we go now?" TrueLich was the one with the means of fast travel. It was a portal-like spell, which teleported them to the nearest town in the region of their choice. "Orothe. I need a Megathan." A Megathan is a DC with power comparable to that of a Hyren. It's a large aquatic beast, that has the CONSUME ability. "We'll get to fight Hunter Jiles and the such?" Majin wanted to train. He knew what DCs were in each region, he just didn't know where we would be. Hunter Jiles, known as Sea Jiles by many, were like aquatic lions. They looked like an aquatic version of the non-corrupted form of the Chaos Jile. "I wanna go to the Cald!" Glowing Hyren seemed to not care about the wishes of the rest of the group. "Well, what ever we are going to fight, let's do so soon. Staying in my Magi Form is tiring." WindDragon was ready to fight any Orothe DC that came his way. "Alrighty then, to Oscent Mar!" TrueLich opened the portal, and they all followed him through, with Glowing Hyren complaining the entire way.  
  
Meanwhile, ChaosDemon was talking to a dark figure. "Yes, yes I know that Neme is the Grand Master, and quite truthfully, I'm fed up with him." "You know what we'll have to do, ChaosDemon." The mysterious figure was prompting Chaos. "Yes, I do know, and I shall fight in the name of our master, CYBER-X!" Chaos and the mysterious figure parted ways, laughing.  
  
"ShadowFlame, just a little to the left, there! Now, detonate that blast urn and we'll wake the slumbering Megathan." Coolb was ready to fight for the animite of a Megathan. TrueLich was keeping an eye on the new Magi, with his Wasperine (think a combination between a wolverine, a badger, and squirrel. Now think of it with the ability to rip up its opponents. That's a Wasperine in a nutshell.) and Agovo out, ready to intervene if any trouble were to occur. Zycres was fighting an Orpus, (Think manta ray.) and doing well. Glowing Hyren was complaining as he mercilessly defeated a Karak. (Squid body, lobster claws) WindDragon, using his Furok to maul Bwill. (Best described as "shrimp-fish-lobster thing") TrueLich kept his eye on them, while watching the blast urn explode, and the slumbering Megathan attack Coolb from a dream realm portal. Coolb was ready, summoning his Mush Hyren as soon as it came out. He was a little slow though, and the Megathan CLAWED at the Mush Hyren, damaging it badly. "Mush Hyren, you've been hurt badly, but maybe we can go for a termination! CRUSH IT!" The Mush Hyren CRUSHED the Megathan, forcing it back into the dream realm. "YES! A termination! Mush Hyren, you rock! Mush Hyren?" The Mush Hyren, having used the last of its energy to CRUSH the Megathan, followed the Megathan back into the dream realm. ShadowFlame looked amused at what had just occurred. "Coolb, I thought you knew about going all out? You could've saved yourself the energy loss by instead having your Mush Hyren deal damage, and summon your Cave Hyren to finish it off." (A Cave Hyren is a giant Hyren made up of larger mushrooms, using its four mushroom feet to stand on, instead of using the front two to fight. It is able to trigger quakes with ease.) Coolb realized what a foolish move he made. "It's ok, Coolb. This mistake didn't cost you anything, and ShadowFlame DID remind you of an important lesson." TrueLich cheered Coolb up. "And, Coolb, you now have the required infused animite to get a Megathan."  
  
Meanwhile, the 3 new Magi had managed to obtain a blast urn themselves, and were detonating it. "I don't think that this is a good idea." WindDragon had his doubts that they were trained enough. "This is definitely a bad idea. Glow, you won't be able to survive against a Megathan!" Majin was pretty sure that they were about to get into serious trouble. "Nonsense guys! It's just a Megathan. How hard can it be? You saw Coolb take it out." Glowing Hyren was too sure of himself, but he didn't realize it. "Coolb is a MUCH MORE experienced Magi than we are!" WD and Majin both were against the idea of Glow taking on a Hyren-level DC like Megathan. Glow didn't care though, as the huge sea creature emerged from its sleep. "Ok, Agovo, SCRATCH that Megathan!" The Agovo looked at the huge Megathan, then turned and looked back at Glowing Hyren, then quickly swam behind Glowing Hyren. "You stupid Agovo! Fight! Beat that Megathan! You can do it!" The Agovo flew in front of Glowing Hyren and SCRATCHED the Megathan. It looked like the SCRATCH hadn't hurt it. (Which of course, it didn't) The Megathan then took a large bite at the Agovo and CONSUMED it. "Uhoh." Glowing Hyren just realized what a bad mistake he had made. He quickly resummoned his Agovo, but while it was exiting the dream realm, the Megathan CLAWED at Glowing Hyren, slashing up his body and sending him slamming into some wreckage 20 yards away. He didn't move. The Agovo just floated in front of the Megathan, before the Megathan was torn up by a Wasperine SHREDING it. The SHRED of the Wasperine managed to terminate the Megathan, ripping a hole back into the dream realm. "Glowing Hyren, are you ok?" TrueLich swam towards the 3 new Magi, inspecting the injured Glowing Hyren. Glowing Hyren's Agovo went back into the dream realm. "He doesn't have much energy left. That attack took out all of his energy, and it's lucky that he had the Agovo out, otherwise he wouldn't have any energy right now." "Lich, Is there anything we can do?" WD was anxious about the condition of Glowing Hyren. "Why didn't you 2 try to stop him?" "We did. He wouldn't listen to us." Majin told the facts like they were. "Well, this will cut our training short. Sorry guys, but Glow has taken too serious an injury to just leave him here. Hey Coolb, ShadowFlame! We've got a problem here! Glow tried to take out a Megathan!" TrueLich called over Coolb and ShadowFlame. "Hey Lich, how did YOU stop the Megathan?" ShadowFlame watched TrueLich realize how he could've gotten himself as badly injured as Glow, if not worse. "I was just lucky with my Wasperine managing to tear a hole back into the dream realm while SHREDING." "Damn right you were. Lich, remember the Leaf Hyren? I don't want you to be hurt worse than that." Coolb was concerned about TrueLich's safety; after all, TrueLich was still a relatively new Magi. "Anyway, we gotta get to an inn, and quickly. If Oscent Mar didn't require us swimming to it, we'd have no problem, but as it is, we need to get to an easily accessible inn." TrueLich began to cast a portal to Vash Naroom when Coolb interrupted. "We can't go to Vash Naroom. We'd have to carry him up stairs, and as a rule, that's not a good idea." Coolb had a point; they couldn't go to Vash Naroom. "How about the Weave? I'm sure that the Weave is flat enough, with its grassland terrain." ShadowFlame had come up with a solution. TrueLich casted the portal to the Weave, and they hurried to the inn. Before WD entered the portal, he noticed a suspicious movement from the corner of his eye.  
  
In the Weave, Glowing Hyren was stuck in bed for a while. Lucky for the Magi, he was unconscious, which meant no complaining. As they were watching the innkeeper care for him, ChaosDemon flew in. "Hey guys, I see that Glow got bashed up. You can tell me about it later. Right now, there's a new Magi who is trying to catch up to you, and Cyber-X has been sighted in the vicinity. Be careful. Remember, Cyber-X has only been defeated once, and Neme didn't do it. Best of luck guys." Chaos then flew off, before any of the Magi could respond. "Cyber-X? Who's he?" Zycres hadn't heard of the infamous fiend. "He's a Magi so powerful that he wiped the floor with Neme. And he'll do it again I bet. That's why Chaos warned us that Neme didn't beat him." WD responded, trying to hide his nervousness. Just as the Magi had settled down, they heard a rustling outside. "I'll check it out." Coolb was ready, even if he was to be killed. "No, I'll do it." ShadowFlame, the eldest of our group and the most experienced, snuck outside to see what was causing the rustling. The Magi inside listened anxiously, as they heard a yell and then some pleading.  
  
ShadowFlame walked back in, holding a Magi by his throat. "Care to explain yourself?" The Magi looked worried, panicked even. "I was just.trying to find some Magi, that NemeAlamoda told me would teach me how to be a better Magi." The young Magi was still worried, and began hiccupping because ShadowFlame's grip hadn't loosened. "Your name, new Magi?" "It's hic Brink Hy hic Brink Hy hic Brink Hyren." Brink Hyren had stopped hiccupping as ShadowFlame loosened his grip. TrueLich strode forwards. "Welcome to the group, Brink Hyren." Coolb was cautious though. "How do we know that he doesn't work for Cyber-X?" TrueLich answered what seemed obvious. "Look, Coolb, do you think that Cyber-X would send a beginner Magi against a group of new and upcoming Magi like us? As a sacrifice, it's a rather poor one. And, I bet that all of Cyber-X's minions are just self- absorbed powerful idiots that-" There was a loud explosion outside. "You called?" Every Magi there shouted in unison (except for the unconscious Glowing Hyren) "CYBER-X!" "Yes, I am he. And from what I heard you pitiful fools say surprises me. You think that Neme or Chaos will save you? Think again. The dragon Magi knows better than that. All of you should. If I could beat Neme once, what makes you think that I couldn't beat him again?" Zycres spoke up. "Because he's gotten stronger! I bet he's now strong enough to wipe the floor with you like you did to him!" "Fool. You think that he's gotten that much stronger without someone to train him? My teacher and trainer, Menardi, would laugh at that. She has trained me to defeat Neme, and that is what I shall do. But first, why not show me what you pathetic new Magi can do?" Coolb, WD, and ShadowFlame stood up. "Sit back guys, this is my fight." ShadowFlame told the other two to stay out. "But, ShadowFlame! You can't possibly last against this guy! You'll need all the help you can get!" Coolb was hesitant to leave ShadowFlame in danger. "I'll be a distraction. You and all of the other Magi run as soon as we start fighting." ShadowFlame was going to sacrifice himself for the rest of the group. "That would work well, ShadowFlame, except for the fact that Glowing Hyren cannot move." WD pointed out the one flaw in ShadowFlame's plan. "DAMNIT! Can you guys carry him? Get Lich to make a portal to the Battle Arena, and find Neme. He's our best chance." ShadowFlame was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of his friends. But Lich stepped in. "ShadowFlame, we can't let you do this. Coolb doesn't agree, I won't consent, WD won't allow it, and Majin/Zy won't let you. We may be your friends, but that doesn't mean that you should get rid of yourself just because we're in danger. We're not going unless you come too." Coolb realized what Lich was saying and continued it. "You're our friend, our ally, (well, not in Lich's case) and most importantly, our mentor, our teacher. We're not going to let you down at a time like this." WD kept the speech going. "So don't let us down. We've trained hard under you, and it's NOT going to end like this." At this point, the new Magi, Brink Hyren called the attention to himself. "Hey, you guys aren't going to run out on ShadowFlame, right? So how about you send me to find Neme. After all, I did manage to follow you all the way from Orothe." WD looked at him and grinned. "So you were the thing that I saw moving." Brink looked at him, with an expression of surprise. "You saw me? Wow, you've got really good vision! But we don't have time for this, so TrueLich, can you make the portal?" TrueLich nodded and opened the portal, closing it immediately after Brink jumped through, carrying the unconscious body of Glowing Hyren. Coolb stepped forwards. "Alright, EVERYONE READY?" "What an amusing display of emotion. You're lucky that I was in the mood for a good show." "CYBER-X, YOU'RE GOING DOWN!" All of the Magi immediately summoned some of their finest. While summoning, ShadowFlame whispered to TrueLich. "Lich, I want you to make a portal and sit this one out. We can't survive for too long, so I want you to take everyone out when they are almost out of energy." "What about you, ShadowFlame?" "I'll be ok, remember, I'm your teacher." TrueLich didn't look happy, but he consented. The battle began with Cyber-X snapping his fingers and casting a spell. With that spell, the entire battlefield exploded. The Weave town though, because it was over 50 yards away, was safe. All of the Magi were blown backwards, through TrueLich's portal to the Battle Arena. All of the Magi that is, except for TrueLich, Coolb and ShadowFlame. "COOLB! LICH! GET OUTTA HERE!" With that, ShadowFlame casted a spell of his own, and a many huge fireballs converged where Cyber-X was, exploding his side of the battle arena. Cyber-X however, was unharmed. "Is that the best you can do, ShadowFlame?" "NO! BUT IF YOU WANT TO SEE MY BEST, TAKE THIS!" A stream of meteors fell from the sky, each exploding when they hit Cyber-X. "That's.the UNIVERSAL TECH!" TrueLich was astonished. No one had ever managed to use the full power of the Universal Tech without having the field full of the other basic regions' techs' influence. Cyber-X was actually injured, and he was holding his left arm. "Impressive. But what will you do now, now that you've wasted all of your energy on one final blast?" With a shout, Cyber-X casted the spell he did before, and caused the entire battlefield to explode once again, but this time, it hit ShadowFlame directly, blasting him and the two others into Lich's portal. As the portal closed, ShadowFlame saw from his closing eyes, the appearance of Cyber-X talking to- no.it couldn't be. He was laughing, they were laughing at the Magi's unsuccessful attempt to fend him off. Thinking this, ShadowFlame passed out.  
  
"Master, that one Magi, ShadowFlame seems to have caused you a bit of trouble." "Worry not, ChaosDemon, for that's the last time he'll ever cast a spell." "Master, you mean that he has been.?" "No, he's not dead. But he's too badly beaten to do anything now. He's basically in a coma. If his energy were numerical, it would be in the negatives. He is a threat no longer." "Excellent Master. So shall I now renounce my loyalty to NemeAlamoda?" "Yes. The time is right. While Neme is reeling from the defeat of all of his Magi, we shall strike him another blow, with the defection of his strongest and closest Magi, CHAOSDEMON!" Another form entered the area after hearing this. "Master, will I finally get my revenge?" "Yes, you shall. NemeAlamoda has NO chance against us, now that he has NO ONE TO SAVE HIM THIS TIME!" The three villains began laughing evilly, as their plans were going perfectly.  
  
Chapter 3: The Aftermath, and the Beginning of a Plan  
  
Arriving at the Battle Arena, Coolb and TrueLich saw the rest of the new Magi looking worriedly at them, then at ShadowFlame. Glowing Hyren was complaining of course, how he didn't get the chance to take on the infamous Cyber-X. "I bet I would've whooped him, unlike you losers." "GLOWING HYREN, SHUT UP!" WD was almost livid with rage. "SHADOWFLAME IS IN A COMA, AND ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IS HOW YOU DIDN'T GET THE CHANCE TO ALMOST DIE AGAIN IN THE SAME DAY? HOW HEARTLESS ARE YOU, YOU WEAK MORON? IF THAT'S WHAT CYBER DID TO SHADOWFLAME, JUST IMAGINE WHAT HE'D DO TO YOU! YOU DON'T HAVE ANYWHERE NEAR THE AMOUNT OF EXPERIENCE THAT SHADOWFLAME HAS, AND ALL THAT YOU CAN THINK OF IS HOW YOU WOULD'VE MIRACULOUSLY WON? I DON'T THINK SO!" As he finished, WD glared at Glowing Hyren, before stomping out of the room and reverting to his dragon form. "I'm going flying, I need to calm down. I'll be back in about an hour." WD flew off.  
  
NemeAlamoda came in, and saw an injured Glowing Hyren pouting, and the rest of the Magi watching over the comatose ShadowFlame. "Hey guys! What happened?" TrueLich looked up, and decided to say what everyone else was wondering. (Except of course, Glowing Hyren, who coincidentally was thinking, "They'll pay. The injustice of it all. I'm superior to all of them. They'll all pay for yelling at me!") "Cyber-X attacked us in the Weave. Most of the Magi got out through one of my portals without too much damage, but ShadowFlame stayed behind to deter Cyber, and Coolb and I stayed with him, in order to help him. He didn't need our help though. Using the Universal Tech, he managed to injure Cyber-X. But it didn't matter; Cyber was too strong for us. He hit ShadowFlame directly with a spell, and ShadowFlame seems to have no energy." Coolb stood up. "All of our energy tests give ShadowFlame a negative amount. But he's not dead, because he's still breathing and he moves his fingers from time to time, groping the ring of his Orathan F. (An Orathan F. is short for Orathan Flyer. An Orathan is like a large whale, and an Orathan F. is an Orathan with wings.) "Ah, I see. Well, that's a minor set back. But with ChaosDemon and you Magi, we should be able to take down Cyber-X." All of the Magi looked at Neme incredulously. Did they just hear what they thought that they heard? At this point, WindDragon in his Magi form walked in, and expressed exactly what they were thinking. "NEME, DO YOU NOT CARE ABOUT SHADOWFLAME?" Majin was ready to continue. "A MINOR SETBACK? NEME, HE WAS OUR MENTOR AND TEACHER!" Brink Hyren stood up, looking out of place. "He saved us all! And all that you can think of is how his noble sacrifice was just a setback?" Neme looked aghast. "No, of course I didn't.well, I mean that I.LOOK, I'M MORE CONCERNED WITH THE PRESSING ISSUE OF CYBER-X BEING BACK. COMATOSE MAGI CAN'T FIGHT. WE NEED EVERY MAGI THAT WE CAN GET!" And with that, he stomped off.  
  
A few days later, Lich was greeted by Coolb. "How's his condition?" "Not better. Lich, whatever you've been doing these past days, it better be good." Lich grinned evilly. "Well, I think I'll join Cyber-X." Coolb immediately tackled Lich, slamming his head against the ground. "DON'T YOU DARE JOIN CYBER-X! IF YOU DO, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Lich was having trouble breathing. "I was kidding!" Coolb let him up, still angry. "Don't you EVER make another joke like that again." Lich looked apologetic. "Sorry, Cool, didn't mean for you to take it that way. I was just going to try to cheer you up by making a joke. It didn't work though. Anyway, this spell is what I've been perfecting. CYBER.BLAST.FUSION!" TrueLich cast the spell on a log that was sitting in front of them. The log mechanized for a short second, before exploding. "Cool! But why does it mechanize?" "Well, about half of the time, instead of exploding, it just mechanizes, making it much stronger. But if I cast it again on the mechanized log, it instantly explodes, and has a larger blast than if I had just used the spell normally."  
  
At this point a worried Neme rushed in. "Have any of you seen Chaos? He was supposed to have been back from his trip to the Core days ago." "Maybe he was injured by a Core creature, and is slowly focusing back enough energy to return here." Lich's suggestion was brushed aside by Neme. "I'll find out what happened to him later. Right now, I gotta make sure that my team of DCs are in tip-top shape." Neme then rushed out, with a determined look in his eyes.  
  
"Well, at least he is ready. But I can't keep my mind on training." Coolb admitted what had been plaguing him for the past couple of days. "Every time I try to train, I think of ShadowFlame, and just can't summon a DC." Hearing this, TrueLich retold what had happened when he checked on the other Magi. "I know what you mean. When I wasn't perfecting this spell, I headed to the dorms of the Academy to check on the new Magi, and what I saw was saddening. Brink, WD, and Zy/Majin were just sitting around, playing cards. When asked why were they training, they summed it up in one word. 'ShadowFlame'. None of us can concentrate or train, except for that self righteous idiot, Glowing Hyren." Coolb sighed. It just wasn't the same without ShadowFlame. TrueLich had an idea. "Hey, Coolb, I just discovered a trove of really powerful Dream Creatures. But for some strange reason, instead of attacking me, they all rushed to me and followed me around. I think that these DCs have a chance of taking out Cyber-X. Cmon, follow me!" Coolb followed TrueLich half-heartedly. Nothing could make up for the defeat of ShadowFlame, except defeating Cyber-X, and that was impossible. No matter what DC Lich found, it just wouldn't work. At least that was what Coolb thought, until he entered the cave.  
  
"Hey, Colossus! Come here!" A large mechanized DC lumbered towards Coolb and TrueLich. "Coolb, this is a Colossus. It's special, in that it's completely unaffected by spells." Coolb couldn't believe his ears, a DC that was unaffected by spells? Maybe there WAS a way to defeat Cyber-X. "Hey, Lich, why don't you use the Colossus and take out Cyber-X with it?" Lich looked at Coolb and smiled. "Because I'm not as good a Magi as you are, Coolb. You deserve the weapon required to take out Cyber-X, no matter what you may think. You can do it, Coolb." They both walked off, Coolb wielding the ring of the Colossus that he just acquired. "And besides, Coolb, if the need ever arises, I'll get my own Colossus. There are plenty of those DCs in that cave, but don't try going in there alone. They seem to have imprinted me for some reason, and they won't harm me or people with me. But if you trying going alone, they'll attack ruthlessly." Coolb wasn't really listening to TrueLich. He was thinking about what would happen if TrueLich started by using Cyber Blast/Fusion on Cyber-X, then Coolb using his Colossus to fight. "Hello? Magi-Nation to Coolb! Come in Coolb! Has Agram stolen your mind?" (Agram is the leader of the Core Magi, the most evil of them all. Luckily for us, he has been sealed away, at least for now.) Coolb looked up, realizing that Lich had been talking to him. "Wha? Nothing, sorry Lich, I wasn't paying attention. I keep thinking about how I'm going to defeat Cyber-X.  
  
"You'll have to defeat me before you can fight my master." Coolb and TrueLich stared at the speaker. It was.CHAOSDEMON???  
  
Chapter 4: The Confrontation, the Loss, the Training of the Ultimate Magi  
  
"What the Core?!?!" TrueLich and Coolb were shocked. "Chaos, working for CYBER-X?" TrueLich couldn't believe it. "No way! Chaos, you can't be!" Neither could Coolb. "Embrace that which is power, and that is Cyber-X! He will destroy that which is evil and tyrannical, NemeAlamoda!" ChaosDemon's eyes were glowing, and he was shouting his words at Coolb and TrueLich. "Chaos, what are you saying? Neme is our leader, the Grand Master! He's not evil or tyrannical." TrueLich was stating what was widely known. "Really? Then why cannot he be dethroned? Why can't he be beaten? Why does he never perform any activities, other than just order us? He does almost no work. He makes YOU train the new Magi, when he should be doing it himself." Chaos pointed out EXACTLY what all of the Magi thought of Neme. "He's a good GrandMaster! And a better Magi than you will ever be!" Coolb defended Neme. "Don't make me laugh. He's a pathetic ingrate for all of your hard work as a Magi. Coolb, the ringsmith, how many magi are always asking you the price of a DC? Why doesn't Neme help with the work of a ringsmith? After all, he is GrandMaster." Chaos had again made a point. "He's busy doing other things!" Coolb and Lich took turns trying to defend their GrandMaster. "This talk bores me. If your GrandMaster is as powerful as you both claim, then you should've been trained well enough to defeat me." Chaos beckoned for them to begin, and Coolb and Lich began to attack.  
  
"Lich, can you cast that Cyber attack again?" Coolb knew how they were going to win this. "Megathan, CONSUME the next DC he summons!" While Coolb was summoning his Megathan, Lich was summoning his Wasperine. "I'll need some time to focus enough to cast it. Hold him off while I do so!" Lich began chanting the incantation. "You both think that a special spell will defeat me? Think again. CHAOS JILE, CONSUME THAT MEGATHAN!" As both beasts attempted to devour each other, Lich's Wasperine SHREDDED the Chaos Jile, distracting it enough so that the Megathan managed to CONSUME it. "That's one down, Chaos. My Mush Hyren will help me take out your next DC." Coolb was stalling, for as long as he could. "That's too bad. All of these DCs are going to perish. CHAOS STORM!" Chaos unleashed his personal spell, one of the strongest ever created. All 3 DCs returned to the dream realm instantaneously. Chaos then immediately resummoned his Chaos Jile. "It doesn't matter that you are now at an advantage, Chaos, because I'm going to defeat you with my newest spell, CYBER BLAST FUSION!" ChaosDemon stopped in place, he and his Chaos Jile slowly mechanizing. When they were both fully mechanized, instead of exploding, they just stood, stunned. "Oh damn.I think we're screwed Coolb." Lich just realized what the flaw in their plan was. "I think so too, Lich, but we're going to have to do what we can." Coolb was not ready to give up just yet. It didn't matter though. "This-is-my-body? A-machine? I-am-now-a-machine?" The mechanical ChaosDemon didn't realize what had just happened to him. The mechanical Chaos Jile did, however. It attacked, its metal jaws gleaming, its eye lights glowing. "MECHA-CHAOS-JILE, MECHA-SLASH!" The huge slice of its metallic claws sent TrueLich flying backwards, into a tree. He looked up for a moment, then his entire body fell to ground, unconscious, possibly even dead. "AND-YOU- COOLB. I'LL-SHOW-YOU-MY-NEW-SKILL! MECHA-STRIKE!" Thousands, possibly millions of metallic shards appeared around MechaChaosDemon. They all aimed towards Coolb, striking him incredibly quickly. Coolb had no time to react; he was struck by them, and defeated. He looked at the many metallic fragments impaling him, before they dissipated and he collapsed. MechaChaosDemon looked around and laughed a robotic laugh. "With-my-new- power, Neme-is-as-good-as-dead." His metal wings then unfolded out, and jets emerged from them, propelling MechaChaosDemon off to find Neme, leaving the two Magi on the ground below him in critical condition.  
  
While all of this was happening, Glowing Hyren had snuck off to the GrandMaster's chambers of the Magi Battle Academy. Inside, he had found a glowing stone, pulsating with the energy of GrandMasters. He took the stone and had run out, not realizing that Majin/Zycres had seen him. "Why do you think he's off in such a hurry?" "I dunno, let's find out." The followed him out of the Academy and into the forest, near where MechaChaos was obliterating Lich and Coolb. They heard Glow shouting to himself, as they hid behind some underbrush. "With this stone, I can become stronger than all of them! I can have powers that they have only dreamed of! I can have more energy than anyone, even Neme! It's all in my hand! And I can do it right now! And no one will ever know how I became this powerful!" Glowing Hyren then held the GrandMaster's stone up high, where sunlight hit it and split into the spectrum of the rainbow. He looked at it for a moment, then slammed it down, into the ground, and watched it shatter. Zy/Majin watched, horrified yet curious, as a yellow mist rose from the fragments of the GrandMaster's stone and engulfed Glowing Hyren. They watched as the mist began to slowly settle.  
  
While both of these activities were happening, WD had been flying around, looking for Arderial DCs to add to his arsenal. He had heard the explosion of the Chaos Storm, and flew in to see what was happening. He came to late though, as MechaChaosDemon had already left, but he did find the bodies of TrueLich and Coolb sprawled on the ground, with almost no pulse and barely breathing. 'Damnit' he thought to himself, as he took off towards the Magi Academy. 'Anything that could do this to both of them together is definitely a threat to the rest of us. I better find help to take them back, and then find Dan.' As he was thinking this, he nearly collided with another flyer, coming back from Orothe. It was the Brink Hyren. "WD, hi! How's it going? I just defeated a Deep Hyren, and now I'm going to get it forged as soon as I find Coolb!" WD wasn't as optimistic, as he motioned for Brink to follow him. "There's Lich, and there's Coolb." Brink was shocked to see both of their near death conditions. "How did this happen?" WD shrugged, as well as a dragon can shrug anyway. "I have no idea. I just found them here, after hearing an explosion." Brink looked at him while picking up TrueLich. "An explosion? You mean like the kind that a powerful spell makes?" WD nodded as he lifted up Coolb. "The exact same sound. It was like a powerful Tech or a spell like Chaos' Chaos Storm." Puzzled, they both started heading back towards the Academy when they noticed a yellow haze. "What's that?" Brink wondered as they both flew down to investigate. As they neared, they caught sight of Zycres, standing there, transfixed on the figure inside of the mist. "Zy, what's going on?" WD asked authoritatively. "I don't know. Glow just took this stone from Neme's place, and then ran here, then smashed it, then got enveloped in this odd yellow fog." WD was horrified. "HE TOOK THE GRANDMASTER STONE AND SMASHED IT?" Brink Hyren leapt at WD and covered his mouth, violently shaking his head, indicating to keep quiet. The figure in the haze didn't seem to notice. "The GrandMaster's Stone? Isn't that what gives a GrandMaster his power?" Brink Hyren had a feeling that he knew what it did. He was just verifying with WD. "Yes, that's exactly what it does. And if Glow has all of its powers, then he's almost unstoppable." WD shook his head. He couldn't believe what was happening. "First Lich and Coolb, now this. What's next, Chaos turning traitor?" Zycres looked at WD with a strange look on his face. "What happened to Lich and Coolb?" "See for yourself" Brink replied, trying to keep his mind off of the looks on the bodies' faces. It was a look of almost utter terror. As Zy looked, his face contorted with disgust. "Oh Agadon, that's bad. Are they still alive?" Brink and WD nodded, solemnly.  
  
All of a sudden, a huge explosion occurred in front of them. Glowing Hyren, his entire body surrounded by a bright yellow aura, with his eyes completely white, had just finished acquiring the power of the GrandMasters. "With this, those Magi will pay for laughing at me. I'll get them all, starting with the most powerful, COOLB!" The three Magi glanced at each other, flew off, with Zycres riding on WD.  
  
After hiding Coolb and Lich near the infirmary, where ShadowFlame was stationed, they returned to their training, as they couldn't find Neme. Weeks passed as they searched all of Arderial, Orothe, Naroom, Paradwyn, Nar, D'Resh, Bograth, Underneath, and the Core, while training. This left the Weave, Kybar's Teeth, and the Cald. Every day they checked on the condition of Coolb, TrueLich, and ShadowFlame, and everyday their conditions remained unchanged. Glowing Hyren had disappeared, being unable to find Coolb, and had mentioned something about challenging Chaos and Dan to prove his superiority.  
  
More weeks passed, and all of the Cald, the Weave, and Kybar's Teeth had been searched as well. "He's just not ANYWHERE! WHERE COULD HE BE?" A frustrated Majin shouted at the other two Magi. Brink and WD had no idea where Neme could be, so they returned to check on Lich, Cool, and ShadowFlame for what seemed to be the millionth time. As they flew back, Majin standing on the back of WD, WD played around with his Ormagon ring, and noticed that it was glowing a strange blue. Not the normal blue of animite rings, but a stronger, more vibrant blue of power. He also realized that his berserk form was fighting to be unleashed, which wasn't normal, as it usually was unleashed when WD needed it, in a tough Magi duel. As they returned, TrueLich was glowing a strange blue as well. His hooded cloak was changing color, from the friendly dark blue that it always was to the chilling black of a starless night. He stood up, nothing visible except glowing red eyes. "How long has TrueLich been unconscious?" The being asked an odd question, as it should know, it being TrueLich. "He's been out for 10 weeks, the same as Coolb, and 4 weeks less than ShadowFlame." WD responded with an emotionless voice. "Who are you?" Brink Hyren was curious, and pretty sure that if things turned ugly, the 3 Magi would be able to take this new visitor out. "I am the DarkLich, TrueLich's mentor and alternate ego. I trained him in the art of spell casting and the ability to duel with DCs, using powerful spells and DCs only available in tournaments." DarkLich gazed around, then walked up to the unconscious Coolb, and relieved him of his Colossus ring. "This beast deserves to train newer Magi. They need to learn to not depend on instant defeats, but to use tactics and power together." The colossus ring glowed, before multiplying into two rings. DarkLich returned the ring to Coolb, and took the copy with him outside. "COLOSSUS, YOU SHALL BE A TRAINER OF MAGI! THE COLOSSUS TRAINER!" A huge Colossus was summoned. This one was larger and stronger than Coolb's, and it seemed to understand what was occurring as well. DarkLich handed it its ring. "If at anytime you are defeated, which may occur while training Magi, your ring will resummon you, making you ready to train another Magi." The Colossus Trainer nodded, and slowly stomped off, pausing to yell "THE-ORMAGON-THAT-THE-DRAGON-HAS. IT-CAN-TRAIN-AS-WELL." It then stomped off into the forest. WD looked at the glowing Ormagon ring, as it exploded in a burst of light. The Dream realm portal was ripped open, as a huge Ormagon stepped out. This was no ordinary Ormagon, this was a special superior Ormagon. (An Ormagon is a huge mushroom. It's nothing to laugh at though, because of its abilities to WRECK and CRUSH everything, possibly terminating every last DC a Magi has.) "The Ormagon Trainer. You shall train Magi, and although you are not my DC to control, I shall give you a name. You are Megagon, the Ormagon trainer." The Ormagon paused before stomping off in the direction that the Colossus trainer went. Before it left, it shouted "WindDragon, I look forward to training you. And you as well, Brink Hyren. And Zycres. And Coolb. I shall look forward to training all of you." DarkLich watched as it stomped off. Now, you Magi have 3 trainers to aid you in stopping Cyber-X. Those three are the Colossus Trainer, Megagon, and myself, the Dark Lich. But before you Magi perform any training, we must wake the strongest Magi among you, Coolb." The DarkLich floated back towards the room where Coolb lay unconscious. "What is he doing?" Majin had no idea what was happening. "I have no clue." Neither did Brink Hyren. But WD, with a cry, transformed into his Berserk- Form, and realized exactly what was happening. It couldn't speak, but telepathically told everyone "He's giving us the abilities to train, so that we may have a chance against Cyber-X." DarkLich heard the message, and laughed, shouting back at the Magi, "Yes, the Berserk Wind Dragon shall train you as well! Now, Coolb, I cast this spell so that you will revive, INFUSION!" A blue stream of light traveled into Coolb's body, as his eyes opened, and he slowly got up. The DarkLich smirked, and then collapsed, obviously reverting back to TrueLich.  
  
"What happened?" Coolb got up and realized where he was. "What am I doing at the Academy infirmary? What happened to MechaChaosDemon?" Zycres and Brink Hyren looked puzzled. "MechaChaosDemon?" Coolb nodded. At this point two things happened simultaneously. WD reverted back to his Magi Form, and TrueLich woke up. "What are we doing here? How did we get here?" WD looked at the puzzled Lich, and laughed. "We found you and Coolb unconscious, nearly dead. We took you back, and have been training and watching over the both of you for months. Now, tell us about this MechaChaosDemon." Both groups relayed stories to each other, telling of MechaChaos and Glowing Hyren. Finally, Coolb stood up. "This is bad. We need all the help we can get to defeat Chaos' new form, and we have a Magi who broke the rules of the Academy. We'll have to stop them BOTH." Lich nodded. "But how?" WD thought for a while. "We need something that will attract the attention of them both, AND Neme at the same time." Brink looked gleeful with a suggestion. "How about a tournament?" Zycres looked up at the suggestion, and a smile appeared on his face. "YEAH! A tournament! With prizes and everything! They'll have to come because they'll want the power that the prizes provide, and the tournament will give us powerups that we can't obtain normally!" Lich smiled. "It's settled then. A tourney it is. I'll get the prizes." The other 4 Magi looked at Lich with a confused look on their faces. After he left, they discussed it among themselves. "Lich? Getting the prizes? HOW?" Coolb then remembered Lich's training for spells and the cave of special DCs. "Lich was creating spells before we went unconscious. He also found a cave full of special DCs, like--" All the other Magi immediately completed the sentence. "THE COLOSSUS!" Coolb looked surprised. "How did you know?" The other Magi quickly told him about the 4 trainers. Coolb responded with a factual tone of voice. "So we've got 4 trainers to help us win. Let's set up the tourney!" Zycres then asked an obvious question. "What should we do?" Brink laughed and stated the obvious reply. "Nothing, there is nothing that we need to do." The 4 Magi then descended the stairs to the arena, where they saw Lich sitting in a chair, elevated high above the battle grounds.  
  
"Lich, what are you doing up there?" WD asked, wondering why TrueLich was sitting in the elevated chair. "I'm the ref! The tourney will start now! I've got the ads and everything! Let the tournament, BEGIN!" Lich announced while summoning his Wasperine. "First match, Zycres Vs. Brink!" As the battle was beginning, Lich suddenly realized that he had forgotten something. "WAIT! Just before we start, everyone, grab one of those rare DCs that are waiting in the corner!" Brink Hyren got a Cliff Hyren, WD got a Night Hyren, and Coolb's Colossus was readied for battle. "Having obtained a new DC, let the tourney begin!" Zycres realized that he hadn't gotten a new DC, and neither had Majin. "Lich, why didn't we get new DCs?" Lich realized a problem. "Zy/Majin, lemme make it up to you! Take these two spells that I've been working on!" Zy and Majin were both given a Naroom Tech and a Cald Tech. "That should be everything. Now let the tournament commence! No aiding a fellow magi while he is in the battle, and when your energy reaches a certain point, you are defeated! Let the first fight begin!" And with that, TrueLich declared the first tournament fight.  
  
The two Magi battled hard, each using their best DCs. "THUNDER HYREN, ELECTROCUTE HIM!" "CLIFF HYREN, HANG OFF THE EDGE OF THE ARENA!" Zycres realized that if a DC was hit out of the arena, it would be terminated. "You are NOT going to manage to Edge me, Brink!" Brink grinned, acknowledging that Zy knew his plan. "Really Zy? You'll have to manage to do better than THAT." Zy looked at his Thunder Hyren only to see hit slashed and thrown off the edge of the arena by the Cliff Hyren. "Zy, Hang has a 50% chance of countering with Edge, so I DID manage to Edge you didn't I?" Zy felt irritated, seeing his DC instantly terminated. He then remembered his new spells. "CALD TECH!" Brink seeing Zy casting a new spell, decided to quickly summon another DC for support. "Wasperine, SHRED Zy! Cliff Hyren, STRIKE Zy!" He then watched as his two DCs were incinerated by flames. They were still alive, but badly damaged. "What was that?" Zy started laughing, realizing the power of his new spell. "That was my newest spell, the Cald Tech!" Brink Hyren was shocked, but had to continue, and did so by summoning Furok. "Furok, FLOCK Zy! Wasperine, SHRED him! And Cliff Hyren! HANG!" Zy however, wanted to try out his new spell, and did so. "FACE THE WRATH OF THE FOREST! NAROOM TECH!" While he was casting though, the flames left over from the Cald Tech suddenly flared up, like a brushfire. "Lich, what's going on?" TrueLich looked down and explained the odd nature of Techs. "Whenever a Tech is casted, it leaves innate elements on the field, to boost and combo with any spell casted after it." Zy realized that this was a good thing, and grinned widely. "ALRIGHT THEN! LET'S SEE HOW YOU TAKE A NAROOM CALD TECH!" Brink quickly calculated his own energy and Zy's, and realized that Zy would be defeated if he just took one hit. The Techs just took too much energy. As the Furok slammed into Zy before dissipating into the Dream Realm, both Brink and Zy heard Lich's voice. "Zy! Your Energy is critical! You are defeated! For entering though, you got your techs, and you get this Deep Hyren." The normal Hyren trudged over to Zy before dissipating into a ring. "Brink, you'll be in the next fight."  
  
"NEXT FIGHT, WINDDRAGON VS. MAJIN!" The two Magi glanced at each other before immediately summoning their best. "FLAME HYREN, TORCH WINDDRAGON!" "NIGHT HYREN, SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN DO!" As the Flame Hyren attempted the incinerate the Night Hyren, it immediately countered by Enveloping the Flame Hyren in shadows, choking it and causing it to return to the Dream Realm. "DAMN! Hmmm.MEGATHAN! CONSUME THAT NIGHT HYREN!" "THUNDER HYREN, ELECTROCUTE THAT MEGATHAN! NIGHT HYREN, STEALTHILY HIDE YOURSELF!" As the Thunder Hyren and the Megathan attempted to terminate each other, the Night Hyren dissolved into the shadows. Neither DC managed to terminate the other, but both were badly damaged. "NAROOM CALD TECH!" The two Techs comboed with each other, causing a fiery explosion of underbrush to damage WD's Thunder Hyren, nearly defeating it. "I'm not finished yet.FEAR MY NIGHT HYREN! AND THUNDER HYREN DEFEAT THAT MEGATHAN!" As the Megathan slowly dissolved, Lich informed Majin that ANY action would cause his energy to go under the limit. Focusing wouldn't work, as WD would then attack with his two DCs. Finally, Majin accepted defeat. "You're a good enemy Majin, but a better ally. Good job." WD wasn't one to brag as a winner. Majin accepted his defeat like his brother. "I may have lost, but my wins and losses do not determine my ability as a Magi." As Lich was deciding how to continue, Glowing Hyren stormed in. "HOW DARE YOU MAKE A TOURNAMENT WITHOUT INVITING ME? IT'S LUCKY THAT I CAME BACK TO HUNT FOR COOLB AGAIN. THIS TIME, COOLB GOES DOWN!" As Coolb prepared for battle with Glowing Hyren, Brink motioned to Lich. "Hey Lich, for defeating the first round, can I just choose a prize then face off with Glow? After all, he is a disgrace to the Hyren name." Lich considered for a second, then asked Brink what prize he'd want. "What would you choose to be able to defeat the one with the GrandMaster's powers?" Brink immediately replied with his answer. "All of the Techs. Naroom, Underneath, Cald, Orothe, Arderial, and UNIVERSAL." Lich looked at him questioningly. "You DO know that those are not all of the techs, and that you barely have enough energy to cast all of those Techs?" Brink nodded. "But this is personal, so I have to do it." Lich nodded, then handed Brink the five scrolls of the basic Techs, as the UNIVERSAL TECH was encoded in all of them, when put together. Brink, with his new skill, now wanted a show down with Glowing Hyren. "GLOW! YOU AND ME! LET COOLB BE, I'M GOING TO DEFEAT YOU!" Glowing Hyren looked at Brink, the laughed. "Whatever you say, Hyren. I'll defeat you first then defeat Coolb." Coolb quickly walked up to Brink. "Why are you doing this?" Brink replied with the truth. "Coolb, you're our strongest Magi, the Ultimate Magi of our group. We need you fresh for Chaos, or at least relatively fresh. If I can take this battle off of your list, you may have enough energy to take down Chaos when he comes." Coolb looked at Brink, then gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "Good Luck, Brink Hyren."  
  
Chapter 5: The Duels  
  
"So, Brink, you think you can stand up to me? I wouldn't try it if I were you. But if you're willing to sacrifice yourself just to stall my slaughter of Coolb, so be it." Glowing Hyren started laughing, acknowledging that he had the upper hand. "I WILL win. And there is nothing that you can do to stop that from happening." Brink Hyren however was ready to throw everything he had into this duel. "We need Coolb to stop Cyber and Chaos. I'm willing to put myself on the line so that I may defeat you, and Coolb will remain fresh for his battle with Cyber and Chaos." Glowing Hyren stopped laughing, then glared at Brink with a look of utter hatred. "Always saving each other from Cyber and Chaos. What good is that? You pathetic Magi have no idea what TRUE power is. That I will show you. Now. Enough chat, time to lose." Brink Hyren immediately started the battle by Focusing his energy, while Glowing Hyren summoned a Flame Hyren. "What a waste of time Hyren. Your energy is already too low to defeat me." Glowing Hyren then immediately summoned a Magma Hyren. "TORCH HIM!" Brink however countered with the Arderial Tech. "AR-DER-I-AL CALD NA-ROOM TECH!" Large trees sprung up from under the Flame Hyren and Magma Hyren, only to be struck by lightning and become a huge, roaring fire. "WHAT'S THIS?" Brink laughed. "YES! The Naroom and Cald innate elements are still on the Battle Arena! Three down, two to go!" Glowing Hyren spat, then summoned his next creature. "From my own powers, I summon the ASH HYREN!" Lich looked concerned. "An Ash Hyren? One must've escaped from the cave." Glowing Hyren paused and looked at TrueLich. "You mean that there are more of these powerful new Dream Creatures? Excellent. Then I won't kill you.at least not until you've led me to this 'cave'." Brink Hyren was unconcerned though. "It may be powerful, but with a Magi like Glow, it'll NEVER be as powerful as a DC raised by a true Magi! UNDERNEATH ARDERIAL CALD NAROOM TECH!" Stalactites then began raining into the fiery forest, accompanied by lightning strikes. The Magma and Flame Hyren couldn't take the spells, and were forced back into the Dream Realm. Even though Brink had been hit by a couple of fire attacks, he was still going strong, while Glowing Hyren, with his evil yellow aura, was doing fine as well. "MAGMA HYREN, JOIN YOUR ALLY IN DESTROYING THIS CLIFF DWELLER! SHOW HIM WHAT THE BRINK TRULY IS!" Brink Hyren readied the next and final tech. "OROTHE TECH!" As the rushing waves of water surged into the elemental destruction, a light flashed. All of the elements were melding together, and the area started glowing all of the colors of the spectrum. "WHAT IS HAPPENING? THIS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!" Glowing Hyren was livid with rage. He summoned his third Hyren though. "FLAME HYREN! WITH YOUR ALLIES, DEFEAT THIS PATHETIC MAGI ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Brink Hyren, who was starting to run low on energy, calculated the amount of energy it would cost to cast the UNIVERSAL TECH. He realized that if he casted it first, and the Hyrens were sucked back into the Dream Realm, he'd be able to defeat Glowing Hyren with the last of his energy. "UNIVERSAL TECH!" Casting the Universal Tech filled Brink with an energy he had never felt before. He felt the determination of all of the regions, combining together in order to defeat a foe that didn't deserve his powers. As the meteors of the Universe rained upon the Cald Hyrens, they each departed back into the Dream Realm, leaving Glowing Hyren with no defense. "DAMNIT! I'LL SHOW YOU BRINK, POWER OF THE FLAME!" Lich watched the spell intently. "Glow, that is just LOW. A spell that makes every action you do cast very little energy? That is just cheap." Brink watched, then smiled. "Lich, it doesn't matter. He can't withstand anymore UNIVERSAL TECHs."  
  
Suddenly, the Battle Arena started twisting and warping. Lich jumped out of his seat. "Cyber or Chaos are nearby! The problem is that the Battle Arena reacts to their presence with Random Effects! Right now, I think we're entering a Time Warp of some sort." As he was speaking, the actions of Glowing Hyren and Brink seemed to speed up tenfold. Coolb was worried. "Are the effects permanent?" WD was more concerned with Brink though. "I doubt it Coolb, but what's happening right now?" Majin stepped forward with a gleam in his eye. "Lich was right, it's a Time Warp. But what it's doing is making Brink and Glow take ten actions instead of one. I think we should take cover." Coolb and WD nodded, before following Majin to a sheltered pavilion nearby. The Battle Arena stopped warping, and all ten actions suddenly took place at once. "UNIVERSAL TECH! UNIVERSAL TECH! UNIVERSAL TECH! UNIVERSAL TECH! UNIVERSAL TECH! UNIVERSAL TECH! UNIVERSAL TECH! UNIVERSAL TECH! UNIVERSAL TECH! U-NI-VER-SAL TECH!" Brink had casted ten Universal Techs in a row, and slumped to the ground, incredibly low on energy. It didn't matter what actions Glow took, as hundreds of meteors began slamming into him, draining his energy at an extreme rate. Lich held up his hands. "Percentage wise, both of you are below the limit. 30% is the limit of energy for the battle. Brink Hyren is at 20% of his maximum energy. Glowing Hyren, however, has taken 81% of his maximum energy, causing him to currently have 19%. Brink Hyren has won." Glowing Hyren wasn't going to let this happen though. "So what if I've lost according to your tournament rules? That doesn't matter. The fact is, I've got more than enough energy to destroy you both." Lich's glowing blue eyes suddenly changed color to red. "I don't think so." Brink looked at DarkLich and grinned. "UNIVERSAL TECH!" Both Brink and DarkLich had shouted it at the same time, resulting in an ULTIMATE TECH. A geyser of fire erupted under Glowing Hyren, vines gripped his body, restraining him, lightning began electrocuting him, an avalanche of boulders fell onto him, and a pillar of water locked him in the middle of all of these elemental attacks. He failed to notice, however, the gargantuan meteor falling directly where he was wrestling to be freed. As the meteor hit, a cry of sheer terror erupted from the elemental mess, and Glowing Hyren evaporated completely, ending his use of his ill-gotten powers. Brink collapsed promptly afterwards, barely able to walk. "He's gone, isn't he?" DarkLich nodded, before reverting back to TrueLich. "Yes, he's finally gone. DarkLich told me everything. Brink, you've won. And you deserve all of those techs that I gave you." Coolb, WD, and Zy stepped out, amazed at what had happened. Coolb walked over to Brink in order to help him up. "Brink, that was amazing. You truly are a powerful Magi. Thanks to you and Lich, that's one threat defeated." WD and Zy nodded. "Brink, good job." "Yeah Brink! You showed him who the REAL Hyren is!" WD then approached Lich. "One last fight, and that's my fight. I'll face Coolb. First to 95% of their total energy loses." Lich looked at WD in disbelief. "You'll lose!" WD nodded, apathetic to the fact that he'd lose. "I know that I'll lose, but that doesn't matter. The important thing is that this tournament ends with Coolb as the victor. If that occurs, then he'll be ready to face off with Chaos or Cyber." Coolb looked at him, then nodded. "You're a good friend, and a good Magi WD. Let's duel!" The battle started with Coolb immediately hitting WD with his Colossus, ending the duel quickly. WD had only taken 6% of his maximum energy damage, but that had been enough to declare Coolb the victor. Having won, Lich requested that Coolb follow him. The rest of the Magi tagged along, hoping to get a glimpse of what Coolb's prize would be. As Lich reached an odd wall, he shouted an odd phrase, apparently a password. "Winner: Coolb. Lack of GrandMaster, Ref's choice." The wall opened outward, and within it were piles upon piles of glowing yellow scrolls. "What are these, Lich?" Lich took one of the scrolls and handed it to Coolb. "A skill of a GrandMaster. The tournament winner is permitted to take one of these scrolls to gain a special ability. You won the tournament, and that scroll contains the secret of Dual-Summoning." WD looked as the glowing scroll disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Good job, Coolb. With the ability to summon 2 DCs at once, we actually may be able to beat Chaos."  
  
All of a sudden, an explosion was heard. The Magi rushed out to run face to face with.MECHACHAOSDEMON! "I-saw-the-tournament-flyers. Ready-to-lose?" Coolb stepped forwards, with a shimmering blue aura. "I'm not losing. Not this time." Both Magi immediately strode to opposite sides of the Arena. "Lich! You're reffing this!" Lich looked surprised. "Me? Reffing a duel like this? Is there a point?" Coolb nodded. "The entire point is that as long as there is a ref, the rules of the Battle Arena are upheld, and no one can aid us, even if they tried." Lich glanced at the edges of the arena, and squinted. He noticed a thin shimmering clear aura, possibly the one that prevented any outside aid. "ENOUGH! COOLB-TIME-TO-DIE!" MechaChaos was ready to win.  
  
As the battle started, a Tunnel Hyren leaped at MechaChaosDemon, knocking him to the ground. "What-is-this? DIE-PATHETIC-BEAST!" As MechaChaos was using his Mecha Strike, Coolb summoned his Colossus to CRUSH MechaChaosDemon. "MECHA-STRIKE!" MechaChaosDemon slashed the Tunnel Hyren up with millions of metal shards. The Tunnel Hyren started dissolving back into the dream realm, but not before TrueLich told the Tunnel Hyren to join Coolb. "Tunnel Hyren! Coolb has helped you, so let him be your Magi! You must've escaped with Glowing Hyren's Ash Hyren. Coolb is a good Magi, he'll help you." The Tunnel Hyren looked at Coolb, standing in front of his Colossus, with a deep blue aura flowing from his body, a feeling of fierce determination to help the Tunnel Hyren. It then was completely sucked into the dream realm, but not before its ring materialized on Coolb's hand. MechaChaosDemon smirked, looking smug. "An-outside-DC-had-to-help-you- Coolb. You-have-no-chance." Coolb glanced back at MechaChaos, and laughed. "Chaos, show me what ya got." "MECHA-STRIKE!" The Colossus remained unphased by the metal shards. "You forgot that Colossus is immune to all spells, Chaos." MechaChaosDemon remained emotionless. "It-doesn't-matter. My-master-will-arrive-soon. He-will-destroy-all-of-you-unless-you-join- him." Coolb stared at MechaChaosDemon, as if to stare him down. "Join Cyber- X? No way." MechaChaos shrugged, and started summoning. "Your-loss-Coolb. MECHA-CHAOS-JILE! MECHA-SLASH-THAT-COLOSSUS!" As the Mecha Chaos Jile charged at the Colossus, with sharp metal claws aimed directly at it, Coolb summoned his Cave and Mush Hyrens. "DUAL-SUMMON! CAVE AND MUSH HYRENS!" The Colossus took the hit, but stumbled back only slightly, and retailiated by AUTOMATING itself. Coolb, having lost control of the AUTOMATED Colossus, decided to cast a spell that Chaos had taught him. "Hey Chaos, remember this? It's a spell that ChaosDemon taught me. The Chaos that I knew. The Chaos that Lich knew. The Chaos that the newer Magi never really knew. PHANTOM REFLECTION!" A mirror appeared next to the Mush Hyren, showing its reflection. The mirror then slowly turned to mist, leaving a faded reflection behind, before shattering. The shards filled out the reflection, making it look identical to the original Mush Hyren. A chain of shards connected both Mush Hyrens. "EVERYONE! YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO! TAKE OUT THAT MECHA CHAOS JILE!" As both Mush Hyrens charged forwards, CRUSHING the Mecha Chaos Jile, it began to fade, and returned to the dream realm. MechaChaosDemon was livid with rage. "YOU-DEFEATED-MY-MECHA-CHAOS-JILE! DIE- COOLB! MECHA-CHAOS-STORM!" An explosion of mechanical energy destroyed the battlefield, hitting all of the DCs. As one Mush Hyren took critical damage, the chain of shards shattered, sucking both into the dream realm. The Cave Hyren then followed them. The Colossus however, was completely missed by the spell. Coolb looked tired and injured, but so did MechaChaosDemon. "COLOSSUS! FINISH HIM OFF!" The Colossus charged up to MechaChaosDemon, and WRECKED him. MechaChaos collapsed on the ground. Coolb strode up to him, a fierce rage in his eyes. "CHAOS! YOU HAVE NO ENERGY LEFT! NOW, YOU DIE!" MechaChaos, lying in a smoking heap, spoke in a sorrowful tone. "I'm-sorry-Coolb. I-was-wrong. Neme-isn't-the-enemy-Cyber- is. Spare-me. Please." Coolb glanced at the wrecked heap, and unsummoned his Colossus. "Back to the dream realm with you. Thanks Colossus." As the Colossus reentered the dream realm, it gave Coolb a look of appreciation. Coolb then turned his back, beginning to walk off of the battlefield. "Chaos, go. Leave. I won't kill you, but it'll take time for me to forgive what you've done." As he was on the edge of the battlefield, he heard all the Magi gasp. "THAT'S-WHAT-YOU-THINK-COOLB! MECHA-STRIKE!" A storm of millions of mechanical shards hit Coolb in the back, knocking him to the ground, unable to move. "Coolb-you-fool. Your-pity-is-your-undoing. Due-to- your-inability-to-actually-kill-me-you-have-killed-yourself. Goodbye- pathetic-Magi." As MechaChaos charged up his Mecha Strike, he was knocked to the ground. "CHAOS! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY WITH WHAT YOU DID TO COOLB! WindDragon's berserk form began to tear away at the mechanical body, shredding through Chaos like paper. "WD, stop. Let him go back to his master. Cyber will not be happy with his failure to defeat us." TrueLich voiced Coolb's words for him. As the broken metal frame of MechaChaos got up, he shouted an ultimatum before leaving. "ONE-WEEK-FROM-NOW-ALL-OF-YOU- WILL-DIE! THE-FINAL-TOURNAMENT-WILL-BE-THEN! MY-MASTER-WILL-DESTROY-YOU- ALL!" MechaChaos then jetted away in a smoking heap. Majin, Brink, WD, and Lich then brought the severely injured Coolb back to towards the nurse wing of the Academy, only to be stopped by Neme and two mysterious Magi. "Ah, I see that you've taken care of Chaos. Excellent. I'd like all of you Magi to meet two of the most powerful Magi in existence." He gestured to the tough looking male Magi. "This is Wicked Tofu. He's comes from Kybar's teeth." He then gestured to the smiling female Magi. "And this is Menardi. She comes from the Core. I assume that you've taken care of Chaos, so that he won't bother us anymore." Lich looked slightly shocked, but recovered himself. "No, he's still alive. He managed to get away before we killed him." Neme looked displeased. "That's too bad. Wicked Tofu, Menardi, let's see if we can finish the job." Neme, Wicked Tofu, and Menardi then all walked off, Menardi pausing to smile at the Magi. The surprised Magi trudged back to the nurse wing. Coolb then remembered something. "Wait. Didn't Cyber say that his teacher and trainer was.Menardi?" All of the Magi looked worried. Zy turned the thought over in his mind. "Has there ever been an instance where two Magi have the same name?" Brink shook his head. "No. At the very closest, they have a one letter difference, but I get the feeling that this is the same Menardi." WD looked curious. "Then who is controlling who? Is Neme the master of this entire plan, controlling Menardi, and in turn, Cyber and Chaos? Or is Menardi the mistress, controlling Neme and Cyber? And what about that Kybar Magi, Wicked Tofu?" Everyone just sighed, and shrugged. Lich slumped against the wall. "I have NO idea. None of us do. It looks like there is only one person we can trust to get us through a fight with any of them." Majin nodded. "Coolb, the Ultimate Magi. The only hope that we have." Brink sighed, then put his head against the wall. "We're the only ones that we can trust. No one else. Not Neme, not Menardi, not anyone, except ourselves." As they slowly walked out, Coolb fell into a troubled sleep, of three Magi trying to control him. The rest of the Magi checked on Shadow, then trudged off to their rooms, with a lot on their minds, and very little time.  
  
Chapter 6: The Apocalypse Duel  
  
Coolb woke up in a sweating fright. He had had a terrible dream of three Magi exerting control on him. One seemed to be an evilly laughing Neme, with a GrandMaster's stone in his hands. Another seemed to be a cloaked Menardi, with little figurines of all of the other Magi in her hands. The third was shadowed in red flame, looking desperate and beckoning Coolb to come quickly, lest he be gotten by the others. The third Magi seemed to remind him of someone. As he lay in the moonlight, he saw a blue fire, obviously magical. "Lich, you there?" Lich replied with a coy tone in his voice. "Well, if it wasn't me, who would be cooking plants here? There are kitchens in this building for a reason." Coolb sighed with relief, and told his dream to Lich, as Lich systematically sliced various vegetables and dropped them into a boiling pot. When Coolb finished, Lich looked concerned. "Well, try not to succumb to any of them, at least not until we figure out who the third Magi is. Also, have a bowl of this. I'm betting that you haven't eaten since Chaos took us out." (Magi don't need to eat often, but they usually do in order to heal faster or to calm their nerves.) Coolb tried it out. "Mmm, tasty, what do you put in this anyway?" Lich held up various healing plants in his hands. "All of these and then some other plants. Mostly for flavor and to add body to the soup." Coolb continued to drink the soup, until a thought struck him. "How long have I been asleep? What time and day is it?" Lich calmed him down. "Don't worry, you've only slept through the afternoon and night of yesterday. We still have six days before the Apocalypse Duel occurs. You did wake up kind of early though, as I wasn't expecting you for another hour. Oh well, I'll let the soup simmer for an hour then let you compare, before giving it to the other Magi. Try to rest. Here, my Eebit will watch over you, in case you're worried. Don't worry about anything, Coolb. We need you in peak condition, so just rest." With that statement, Lich walked out. Coolb glanced out of his window, and caught sight of something moving in the shadows. He couldn't quite make out what it was though. With a sigh, he drifted back into the realm of the weary.  
  
Lich walked into the room, detecting a delicious smell of vegetable soup. "Looks like the simmering did my soup some good. Now, I'll have Coolb try it out. Coolb, wake up, and try my soup. We've got a lot of training to do." Coolb's eyes snapped open, as he recalled what happened before he had fallen asleep again. As Lich spooned some soup into a bowl for him, Coolb wondered how they could possibly ever be ready for the Apocalypse Duel. He then wondered why it was being called the Apocalypse Duel. "Lich, why are you calling the rematch against Chaos the Apocalypse Duel?" Lich's eyes flickered to the window, before replying in a hushed voice. "Chaos isn't coming alone. That was made obvious by his last words before leaving. Cyber is coming." Coolb looked at Lich, shocked. "WHAAAAT?" Lich sighed, and handed Coolb his bowl full of soup. "It's obvious. The reason why we all need to train is that I'm sure that all of us will be needed for this duel. And.Ok, you can stop listening at the door." Lich then pulled open the door, and Zy and Brink tumbled in. WD walked in behind them. "I see that you've caught us Lich, so now, what are you going to do? We all know about the Apocalypse Duel." Lich smiled, then handed bowls full of soup to all of them. "Well, first I'm going to make sure that you all get some nourishment and sustenance. Then we'll talk of what to do. I'm pretty sure I have a trump card for Majin, WD, and Coolb, them being the older Magi. Zy glared at Lich indignantly. "Just because we're never around at the same time doesn't mean that I'm any less powerful." Lich laughed and agreed. "Ok then, you'll all get something to aid you in your training. Meet me at the training grounds in three hours. Do as you wish until then.and save some soup for.me." Lich's last comment was directed to the fact that all of the other Magi were busy spooning themselves more soup while he was speaking, and now there was none left. "Oh well, make that six hours. Vegetable picking takes time." Lich then walked out of the door, leaving the Magi to discuss strategies among themselves.  
  
"We should try using all of our most powerful spells. After all, ShadowFlame." Brink cut himself off, as everyone glanced at the still- unconscious ShadowFlame. Coolb finished off Brink's idea. "He used the Universal Tech. That injured Cyber, so if we all use techs, we can defeat Cyber." Coolb sat down, with a frown on his face. "The major problem is that we still don't know who is controlling everyone in the Academy. Is it Menardi, Cyber-X, Tofu, or Neme?" WD suddenly looked like he remembered something. "That reminds me, when I was looking in the hall of records for information on ChaosDemon, I came upon a few files that looked like they were intentionally hidden under the rest. They were on Menardi, Neme, this guy called Darkness Eliminator, and.Cyber-X." Majin jumped out of his seat. "That's right! When we, Zy and myself, went down to check on our file, we caught sight of Neme stuffing some files away. The only one that we managed to see was the one on Darkness Eliminator. I think he was Neme's rival or something way back when they were just Magi." WD nodded. "That's what the file says. It also states that the trainer of Darkness Eliminator sacrificed himself to help Neme to defeat him. Darkness Eliminator was supposed to have been killed.but have you noticed that Neme seems jumpy nowadays?" Zy suddenly jumped up and looked out the window. Coolb glanced at him. "Sorry Coolb, just thought I might've saw something." Coolb understood. "Don't worry about it Zy. Your senses are probably right. I wonder who would be spying on us though." Brink shrugged. "I don't see the point. Neme could care less, as he's GrandMaster, Chaos is in no condition to fight, and Cyber doesn't sneak around." WD considered this, and then continued. "Anyway, I've found out one of the Academy's darkest secrets. Dan was only made GrandMaster 2 years ago, and the GrandMaster directly before him was.Chaos." Everyone stared at him. "And that's not all. Before Chaos, the GrandMaster was Cyber himself." Coolb looked surprised. "So you're telling me within a 4-year time frame, Cyber, Chaos, AND Neme were all the GrandMaster?" WD nodded. At this point, Zy leapt out the window, catching the frame with his feet, to grab hold of.Wicked Tofu. "Tofu, what are you doing spying on us?" Tofu shook off Zy, and summoned 4 Xamf. "NEME SHALL RULE! THOSE WHO DOUBT HIM ARE TRAITORS!" The 4 Xamf attacked the Magi, but because of the size of the window, only 2 were able to get through. There was a flash, and some Magi shrouded in darkness sent all of the Xamf back to the dream realm, before making himself disappear with the darkness. Tofu had slipped away in the confusion. While Coolb and WD were checking to see everyone was all right, Majin just stood there, completely confused. "What the Core is going on?" No one knew the answer.  
  
A few hours later, all the Magi gathered, and began training with the trainers. TrueLich showed up with more of his vegetable soup, and they all helped themselves to more. "So, Lich, what are we going to get to aid us?" Zy asked, as he slurped his soup noisily. Lich smiled, and pulled out some scrolls, and led a few DCs nearby to their new Magi. "For Coolb, Darkbreed Hyren. For Majin and Zy, a Universal Tech. For WD, a Monarch Hyren. For Brink, a Cliff Hyren. That should be it." All of the Magi nodded, and began training with their newest assets. Time passed, and by the time the light faded, each Magi felt that they now had a chance to win. Unknown to them, they were being watched.  
  
"Menardi, what do you think?" "They have gotten strong. They may actually do our job for us." "Excellent. I can finally rid myself of Chaos, and I may be able to rid myself of that rebellious Magi, TrueLich. Coolb, Majin, and WD's talents may prove to be useful though." "Neme, TrueLich is their spine. Shatter him, and we break their entire group. Coolb and WD though might be able to take his place if you are to kill him though." "You think that maybe I should just.?" "No, Tofu, don't bother. Neme has ideas how we can get rid of Chaos and the rebellious Magi at the same time." "Menardi, I have one question. Is Darkness Eliminator really back?" "Yes, Neme, he is. But with your power, and the GrandMaster's Stone, you should be able to defeat him with ease, if he manages to get past the rebellious Magi." The three Magi then walked opposite ways.  
  
The next six days passed incredibly fast, and before they knew it, the Apocalypse Duel had come. All the Magi waited on the training grounds, expecting to see a glimpse of Chaos. Coolb, WD, and Majin were ready to take on Chaos, and anyone else he may have brought. However, just before the 7 days were exactly up, Neme came by, slightly irritated. "Lich, you didn't clean up the infirmary when you were done making that terrible soup." Lich rolled his eyes then walked back. "Don't worry about me guys, I'll catch up in a little bit. After all, my soup didn't make any mess at all."  
  
As Lich entered the hospital wing of the academy, he noticed an odd haze. Cautiously, he threw a stick into it, and watched it disintegrate immediately. "I knew it," he thought to himself. "It's a trap." He then used an Arderial spell to blow all of the toxic mist out of the infirmary, and then checked to see if anything was left. Surprisingly, everything was still there, even the stick that he had thrown in. "What kind of trap is this? It's almost a hallucination.oh Core." He then tried to leave, and found that the door was sealed shut. Outside of it, he heard a high-pitched voice laughing at him. "One Magi down, four to go!" Lich then proceeded to throw all of his spells at the seal, finding that none of them had ANY effect. "Core." He thought.  
  
While Lich was locked inside, MechaChaosDemon had come. "THE-DUEL-IS-A- THREE-ON-THREE." Coolb, WD, and Majin looked at each other, then looked at Brink. Brink nodded. "Don't worry about me, I'm going to go check on Lich. If anything problematic occurs, Lich and I will fill in for you." Majin laughed. "Alright then. We've got our three, so let's see your three." MechaChaosDemon laughed a harsh, mechanical laugh, as a Magi stepped out of the shadows. "Darkness-Eliminator." "Hello Magi. I see that you managed to do a pretty good job on my pal Chaos here. It's not going to happen again, not with our master here." An evil Magi suddenly appeared, his face burned into the memories of the other Magi, a Magi so evil that their mentor had to sacrifice himself to give them time to get away.Cyber-X. "I'm back. You may have defeated Chaos, but I'm another story altogether." The Magi stood speechless. Coolb then swallowed, and shouted, "THIS ONE IS FOR SHADOWFLAME!" WD and Majin took up the battle cry. "FOR SHADOWFLAME!" Brink laughed as he left to search for Lich. "Ha, they think that they're so powerful. Well, they forgot that we fight for vengeance. They nearly killed ShadowFlame, so we're going to get them back." Brink then came to the sealed infirmary door. "Lich?" Lich heard from inside. "BRINK! Hurry, can you open the door?" Brink took his long, sharp claws, and split the door in half, only to find it piece itself back together again. "This could be a problem."  
  
Outside, the battle had already started. Coolb, WD, and Majin had summoned their finest, a Colossus, a Monarch Hyren, and a Core Hyren. Cyber-X had stepped back to let Chaos and DE battle. The Magi's strong DC's quickly tore through DE and MechaChaos' Core DCs. "This-is-not-good-for-us." "Indeed it isn't, but master hasn't even begun to fight yet." DE's comment was finished with a shrill laugh of someone who hadn't ever laughed, except to harm. "We're going to win this. For ShadowFlame!" As this conversation was being made, Brink rushed out. "To the Core with Neme, Menardi or Tofu! Lich is sealed inside of the infirmary!" The three Magi looked at him. "Shoot.what should we do?" The four Magi then all heard Lich's voice. "Don't worry about me! I'll unseal this door with Brink's help! JUST WIN THE DAMN DUEL!" Brink hurried back, as the three Magi continued with their relentless assault.  
  
After MechaChaos and DE had been pummeled badly, and were low on energy, Cyber stepped in. "Enough. Chaos, DE, watch how a REAL Magi defeats his opponents." Cyber then blew up the entire battlefield, terminating all of the DCs.EXCEPT for Colossus. "Nice try Cyber. Meet my Colossus. COLOSSUS, AUTOMATE!" Coolb laughed at Cyber's attempt, while WD and Majin summoned more DCs to aid the Colossus. The Colossus tore through Cyber-X, like paper, as all of the opposing Magi collapsed and disappeared, leaving only MechaChaosDemon. "What the?" Majin, WD, and Coolb were confused. "No way could Cyber have been that weak." Majin stated what was in all three of the Magi's minds.  
  
Meanwhile, Brink and Lich were casting spells. "Cmon! USE ALL THE TECHS!" As the seal started glowing the colors of the regions, both Brink and Lich UNIVERSAL TECHed it, shattering the seal. "ALRIGHT! Now let's go help the other Magi!" Brink and Lich rushed outside to see.MechaChaos on the ground and Cyber and DE nowhere to be seen. "Where are they?" Brink was confused. So were all of the Magi. "No idea. But as long as Chaos is out cold, I might as well demechanize him." Lich then casted Cyber Blast/Fusion and all the Magi watched as Chaos exploded, leaving a very badly injured demon on the ground. As all the Magi turned to head back to the Academy, Chaos slowly got up. "What happened to your master and friend?" An irritated Coolb asked. The other Magi nodded. Chaos, slumped against a wall, and slowly began telling them what happened. "That wasn't the real Cyber.no one knows where he is.DE died under the name of Cyber, so Cyber infused his Magi's spirit into mine. That gave me all the power that DE had, but DE was still dead." "So what did we fight then?" WD slammed his fist against the wall, dangerously close to Chaos' head. "Images of them that I dreamed up. I summoned images of them, and made them seem as real as I could, but it wasn't enough.I wasn't expecting your Colossus to be immune to my Fatal Storm. With your colossus immune, I was unable to keep the images summoned, and lost them, and passed out." "WHO ATTACKED SHADOWFLAME? AN IMAGE, OR THE REAL CYBER?" Lich's Wasperine ring was flickering, getting to summon a Wasperine, deadly to the weakened Chaos. "That was an image. I had to get rid of ShadowFlame, because he was the one who'd be able to defeat me normally. The other reason is that he'd probably be loyal to Neme." "Well, we know that Neme isn't the best of Magi, but you have no reason to try to kill us because of it!" Zy kicked the wall, then kicked off of it, performing a backflip, and landing almost on top of Chaos. "I thought you were loyal to Neme. If I had known that you weren't so loyal, then I wouldn't have tried to kill you so many times." "WHAT IS IT WITH OUR LOYALTY TO NEME? WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?" A furious Brink Hyren glared at Chaos. "Simple. Neme is not worthy to be GrandMaster. I'm not saying that I am, but what he does with his free time is really not what the GrandMaster should be doing. A GrandMaster should take it upon himself to help train the new Magi, not just leave them be." "What about you Chaos? What did you spend YOUR free time doing?" "Hunting for Cyber. I couldn't find him though." All of a sudden, Neme, Menardi, and Tofu charged out at them.  
  
"CHAOS, YOU ARE HEREBY GOING TO DIE UNDER MY HAND!" The Magi stopped him. "What are you doing? And what's TrueLich doing here? I thought he was locked in the infirmary." "We're protecting Chaos until we're done questioning him. And how would you know about Lich being locked in the infirmary?" Lich suddenly glared at Neme, his eyes glowing a strange blood colored red that none of the Magi had ever seen before. "I um.um.um.was told by the new Magi!" "I wonder which new Magi this is." Lich was looking deadly, but all of a sudden, a Core Grag slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. A Core Hyren appeared, and slammed all of the Magi into the wall, and silencing them with its tail. "Enough of this, Neme, finish off Chaos so that we may go." "MENARDI!" Lich struggled to get up. "You're the master behind all of this. I'm betting that you really DID train Cyber." "Shut up, dead Magi. You're going to die right after Chaos. Without you alive, they'll have to depend on Coolb or WD, and then we can just kill the rest of them off. And actually, Neme and I both trained Cyber." "So you're telling me that you both want Chaos dead, because he knows the truth that you're behind the unrest in the moonlands? So what's Tofu, another trainer of Cyber?" "No, he's just a bodyguard. Anyway, Core Grag kill Chaos." As the Core Grag charged towards the weakened ChaosDemon, TrueLich lept in front and took the hit, slamming into the wall, and falling unconscious. Coolb, WD, Brink, and Majin immediately started resisting the force of the Core Hyren, which was terminated by a Berserk WindDragon. ChaosDemon, though injured, managed to fly away from the arena as everyone turned his or her attention to the new conflict. The Magi all summoned their strongest DCs, and began the duel known from then on in the academy as the "End of the GrandMaster Duel."  
  
Chapter 7: Neme's Dethroning  
  
Coolb glanced around, as his Colossus tore through Tofu's Xamfs and Menardi's Core DCs. WD, Majin, and Brink were helping his Colossus with their Hyrens, and it was possible to see an intangible form of Zy, giving his power to his brother. "Neme, you never should've underestimated us. TrueLich is our friend, but the real spine of the us, the Academy's Magi, is me." Coolb then commanded his Colossus to AUTOMATE, and let it continue tearing through Menardi's forces. "Menardi, we're more powerful then you'd possibly imagine. We lost ShadowFlame because of Chaos, and we're not forgiving him for that.but you almost killed Lich, and we're going to make you understand the pain we're going through." WD's Magi form was summoning DC's at an incredible rate, and Tofu's Xamfs were being terminated at an incredible rate. "FOR LICH!" Brink shouted the battle cry of the Academy's Magi, unleashing Universal Tech after Universal Tech. "My brother and I think that you're the one to blame for all of our sorrows, Menardi. And you're going to be the sorry one when we're done with you!" Majin yelled menacingly, his and Zy's DC's continuing the assault.  
  
All of a sudden, something happened. The Arena started warping, before settling on the black of the darkest reaches of the Core. "You fools, you think that I have that little power? You forget the power of the CORE!" Menardi snapped her fingers, and the entire field exploded, then Quad- Summoned 4 Hyrens to defeat Coolb's Colossus. Neme stood back and laughed. "You have no idea what Menardi and I can do, do you?" With that, he summoned another 4 Hyrens, and began chanting. Tofu grunted, and summoned more Xamfs. Menardi began chanting as well, before shouting a phrase that condemned all of the Academy's Magi. "GUARDIAN NEMESIS!"  
  
As energy waves sent all of the Magi backwards, the two evil Magi seemed to meld together, into one being. This new being laughed a few times and opened its palm. It looked at the Magi like a predator looks at its prey, and casted a spell. It was a spell so powerful that it nearly defeated all of the Academy Magi. TrueLich wasn't hit by it, but awoke and saw the wreckage of the arena. "CYBER BLAST/FUSION!" Lich casted the spell, then watched as it had no effect on this being. Before the being could annihilate TrueLich, a cloaked Magi with black fire erupting from his robes dashed in and unleashed a Tech TrueLich had never seen before. "LEGEND TECH!" The Magi stood there, as mist swept over the damaged arena. From within, a shrill screaming could be heard, as elements seemed to rise up of their own will and attack the fused being. As the screaming died down, the mist left and left an unconscious Menardi and a barely conscious Neme on the ground. The cloaked Magi laughed, and sat down on a bench near the arena, as Tofu looked at both Neme and Menardi. "It's not over yet you know.not by a long shot." Tofu then grinned maniacally, and Menardi got up, flowing with energy. "What the Core?" The cloaked Magi glared coldly at Tofu, before hearing "SEAL-X!" and finding himself unable to move. The Academy Magi slowly got up from the ground, battered, injured, and tired, but not defeated. However, Brink noticed that he had almost no energy, and slunk back against the wall. Majin/Zy were fighting to stay standing, and WD was having trouble maintaining his Magi form. Coolb stood, energy flowing around him and through him, a look of grim determination emanating from behind his shades. The cloaked Magi laughed as Coolb began summoning his Colossus. TrueLich noticed a faint line connecting them, and realized what was happening. Before he could say anything, he collapsed on the ground. As he slowly rose up again, his eyes were turning a dark, deep red. His cloak was becoming the black of night. "For the Ultimate Magi and his allies, this seal I do DISPEL! DISPEL-X!" The spell restraining the cloaked Magi shattered.  
  
A thunderclap was heard, pure evil seemed to emanate from the other side of the ruined arena. Neme slowly rose and smiled an evil smile. The evil was surrounding Menardi as her energy replenished. Tofu was sitting on the ground, watching her movements gleefully. "There's more than one reason why I only summon Xamfs." Tofu restored more of Neme and Menardi's energy, and then got up. "Is there no end to their power?" Coolb looked around. WD was in his Magi form as the wind blew back his hair. Brink and Majin/Zy were standing, ready to take on whatever may come. DarkLich and the cloaked Magi were sitting on the bench, watching the battle. They portrayed no emotion at all. "Alright, let's do this! For the Academy Magi!" As Coolb began to Dual-Summon his Mush and Tunnel Hyrens, the other Magi summoned their DCs as well. A silence settled as Menardi, Neme, and Tofu stood on one side, glowering at the Academy Magi. On the other side, the Academy Magi stood, waiting for an action.  
  
An odd rumbling broke the silence. Suddenly, hundreds of thousands of weebos (small mushrooms. They're cute and weak, but if you give them enough time, they can be one of the most devastating DCs ever.) began stampeding into the destroyed arena, surrounding into Neme, Menardi, and Tofu. Riding on the back of a Furok, a Magi with medium-length blond hair and emerald eyes appeared. With him was a large cow-like Magi. "Looks like we're not too late! Cow, let's do this. ATTACK!" With that, the blond Magi commanded his weebos as they began swarming and attacking Neme, Menardi and Tofu. Cow, the cow Magi, commanded his to heal any of the injured weebos, as well as heal the injured Magi. "Kyros! You made it!" DarkLich reverted to TrueLich and greeted the blond Magi at the same time as Coolb. "Of course! As a graduate of the Magi Academy, I had to make SOME appearance, didn't I? Anyway, Cow's got the shards of the broken GrandMaster stone." Kyros sat back on his Furok and grinned, as the three evil Magi couldn't hold off the rampaging weebos. "Lich, here. It's a good thing that you and Coolb notified us with that messenger, otherwise the outcome could've been very grim indeed." Cow handed over the many shards as TrueLich began casting a spell that would repair it. "But I.Lich, did you tell anyone to get Kyros and Cow?" Coolb looked at Lich in a puzzled fashion. "I thought you.?" Lich continued casting the spell as he looked blankly at Coolb. WD, Brink, and Majin/Zy rushed forward at this point though, and greeted the graduates. As Kyros and Cow began retelling stories of their adventures to the Academy Magi, Coolb walked over to Lich. "Coolb, check the infirmary. You'll know who you're looking for." Lich had almost completed the GrandMaster stone. Coolb sprinted off towards the Nurse wing of the Academy; all while the three evil Magi were still overwhelmed by the weebos. When Coolb got back, he looked at the cloaked Magi with shock and relief. "ShadowFlame.he's not in the infirmary." Coolb began laughing, and beckoned for the cloaked Magi to come towards him. "ShadowFlame! It's been so long.we all thought you were." ShadowFlame's silenced Coolb by holding up his hand. "It's an amazing world, with negative energy. I was so weakened that I thought I had died. It turns out, however, that due to my power, I could leave my body in an astral form. I watched all the events unfold, and trained my magic abilities as much as possible. TrueLich's ability to write down and teach Techs were what gave me the idea to channel my power into a new Tech. I frequently communicated with DarkLich, who promised that he'd never tell any of this to TrueLich, and he helped me design the Legend Tech. I'm glad that I managed to wake up in time, it took a lot of effort and aid from DarkLich. But, I'm finally back." ShadowFlame grinned and took off his hood, revealing the shadowy flames that encompassed his body. "Lich, you've got the GrandMaster stone ready?" ShadowFlame glanced at the completely GrandMaster stone in Lich's hand. Lich nodded. "Alright everyone, cast all of your most powerful spell at the GrandMaster's stone! We're going to super-charge it, then perform a spell that only the DarkLich, myself, and Coolb know." ShadowFlame began chanting, as he casted all of his most powerful spells into the GrandMaster stone, and it began glowing a bright red. The other Magi followed suit. "But ShadowFlame, what spell is it?" WD looked at the many-colored, flashing, super-charged GrandMaster stone. "It's gotta be a powerful one to defeat Menardi and Wicked_Tofu once and for all." Brink explained to ShadowFlame. "What's the plan, ShadowFlame?" Zycres grinned, knowing the ShadowFlame was going to finish the fight. "Coolb, you look surprised." Cow looked at Coolb. "He probably doesn't realize that he knows the Ultimate Spell that will seal away Menardi." Kyros brushed his hair back and gave Coolb a reassuring look. "You know the spell Coolb, it's written in your subconscious. You'll cast it when the time is right, no matter what." DarkLich's red eyes gleamed, as he and ShadowFlame began chanting. "But I.what.am I supposed to do?" Coolb looked at everyone with a sense of panic. "Coolb, we believe in you. We know that you'll do what's needed." WD patted Coolb on the back, as Majin/Zy gave a reassuring nod and Brink gave him a positive gesture. (He doesn't really have thumbs.more like claws that are opposable) A large explosion stopped the discussion as an infuriated Menardi stomped forwards, cut and bitten, and looking ready to kill. Many of the weebos had been sucked back into the dream realm from that explosion, but many were still there. As Neme and Tofu walked up behind her, they all began chanting. But besides Menardi, Neme, and Tofu's chanting, and ShadowFlame's and DarkLich's chanting, there was one more voice.  
  
Coolb suddenly realized that he was reciting the incantation. With a cry, he finished the spell and the GrandMaster stone exploded into thousands of mirrors, exactly the height of Menardi. "NO! YOU CAN'T SEAL ME BACK THERE!" With a look of sheer terror, Menardi stopped chanting and tried to run, as the mirrors surrounded her. Neme dived to the side and Tofu ran from the arena, where he was greeted by the Academy DC's and after some shrieking, his unconscious body was thrown into Menardi, causing her to trip as the mirrors finished closing in. With a flash, the GrandMaster's stone reappeared, and then vanished. "What.what happened to her?" All of the Academy Magi wondered out loud. Kyros just grinned and Cow laughed. As DarkLich reverted to TrueLich, he looked at Coolb and smiled. "She and Tofu are where they belong." ShadowFlame sat back and laughed as the Magi realized what had happened. Before they could start celebrating though, a heavily battered demon flew back into the arena, shocked. "You.beat them? But." ChaosDemon just stopped as he noticed the conscious ShadowFlame. "Oh CORE." The other Magi surrounded him and he knew that he was in serious trouble.  
  
Epilogue (Told in TrueLich's perspective)  
  
"It's been a couple of months now. Kyros and Cow went back to the forests of Naroom where they have always resided. ShadowFlame has gone on a journey, possibly to be there to train the next Ultimate Magi when the time comes. He's more powerful than I ever imagined. The current Ultimate Magi, Coolb is helping in the training of a new batch of students, one of which looks to be INCREDIBLY promising. WD and Brink are helping him. Majin/Zy have also gone on a quest, possibly to find a spell that will let them live separate lives, though they don't seem to mind their current condition. Glowing Hyren, well, he's still dead, and good riddance. Never could stand the guy anyway. ChaosDemon and Neme are now the new teachers of the Academy, heavily supervised by the remaining Academy Magi. They still get into fights sometimes, but considering how powerful Coolb is, they're not going to try anything. Anyway, I'm just hanging around, helping out when needed, but I'm also talking to the new promising Magi. His name is Raistlin, and he seems to have power comparable to WD or myself. He's definitely going to make an excellent Magi. And that reminds me; the title of GrandMaster was abolished. Coolb didn't want a GrandMaster stone to confine his power, and none of us care to be GrandMaster. Anyway, we've decided that we're all going to go on a vacation to see all of the moonlands, without having to train at all. We're talking Raistlin with us, and leaving the Academy in the care of Chaos and Neme, both with severe restraining spells. It's going to be a nice long break, considering how much construction we've had to do to repair the Academy."  
  
And with that, Coolb, WindDragon, TrueLich, Brink Hyren and Raistlin left the Academy, to later be joined by Kyros and Cow, Zycres14 and Majin, and even eventually ShadowFlame himself. They would see sights that few had ever seen, and meet strange and interesting people. But above all, they would be the Magi of the Magi Academy, located in Naroom near the Weave. Take care in getting there, and remember, Wednesday is Lich's vegetable soup day! 


End file.
